The Melancholy of a Boy and a Robot
by Mr. Cooper
Summary: Two familiar characters from Nintendo talk to each other about the unfortunate events that they had to suffer through.


_**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**__ There are a few things I wanted to point out. First off, I don't own any of the characters in this fan fiction. Secondly, this is a serious story about the tragic pasts of two characters: Lucas (from Mother 3) and R.O.B. (The one from Super Smash Bros. Brawl) In other words, this story will reveal spoilers on Mother 3 and The Subspace Emissary. Now, there are a few things I may have changed about some of the characters, like Lucas being able to read minds and the "elders" that existed in the world that is the setting of "The Subspace Emissary" in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. But other than that, most of this story is true about what happens in those two games. One other thing I want add is that all of R.O.B.'s lines are in italics to emphasize the "mechanical-nish" of the voice that I have imagined for him in this short story. One more thing, if I am inaccurate about Lucas's history in Mother 3 or the Subspace Emissary, please tell me. So um...enjoy and review please! (;P)_

_P.S. Don't mind the small edits you may see done to this story every now and then..._

--

Nighttime. The crickets chirped and the frogs croaked. Fireflies elegantly danced across the air. The sky was mostly clear, and the full moon was shining like a lamp.

Lucas, the ten-year old boy with the PSI abilities, was sitting in front of a small pond, a foot away from a large house that was behind him. He was moving a small, broken tree branch around the water slowly, as if he were drawing circles in the water, while he rested his head on his free hand. The expression on his face was of sadness and loneliness.

R.O.B., who was inside the house, rolled towards the patio door and saw the sad, little blonde haired boy. Curious, he rolled towards him, but slowly, knowing that he was easily startled.

"_Greetings._" R.O.B. spoke carefully. He did not want to seem hasty, so he decided to start off with a simple greeting.

"Hu-?" Lucas turned his head. "Oh...hey..." he replied unenthusiastically, turning his head back to the pond.

"…_So..._" R.O.B. started, unsure exactly what to say, "_...how are you tonight?_"

"Fine..."

"_I see… May I ask what you are doing? Other than...circling the water with a piece of vegetation..._"

"Thinking..."

"_About what?"_

"Stuff..."

"_Good 'stuff?'"_

"No…"

_"So...bad 'stuff'?"_

"Yeah..."

"_...How's the weather?"_

"Chilly..."

_Wait a minute, why am I asking him about the weather? _R.O.B. thought to himself. Lucas just sat at the pond, continuing what he was doing with the branch.

"_How old are you?"_

"Ten..."

"_Uh-what I meant to ask was... Are those new shoes?"_

"No..."

"_...Where did you find that branch?"_

"From a tree..."

Lucas was mostly in his own little world, so he barely cared about his surroundings, or if people talked to him, which explains his short, simple answers to the robot's questions.

_...Ugh, I'm so terrible at this... _R.O.B. said to himself again while clenching his eyelids out of embarrassment. _How am I supposed to get through to him when I keep asking him these idle questions?_

"...Get through to me about what?" Lucas asked R.O.B., still in the same uncaring tone, without turning his head.

"_Wh-what?" _asked a baffled R.O.B.

"You said something about getting through to me..." the boy responded.

"_...When...?"_

"You just said it to yourself..."

Then R.O.B. remembered that because Lucas had PSI abilities, he could read minds.

"_I just wanted to ask...is something troubling you, young one?_"

Lucas remained silent, as did R.O.B. After seven seconds of almost dead silence, R.O.B. was beginning to think that he was doing nothing but being an unnecessary bother.

R.O.B. hopelessly sighed. "_I apologize for disturbing you." _he said, and then began to roll away.

Lucas turned his head again to see the robot leaving. "W-Wait! Don't go!" R.O.B. stopped as soon as he heard the command. Dropping the branch, Lucas got up and walked to him, his hands behind his back. "I'm sorry I ignored you… It's just…I was...thinking…about..."

_"Painful memories, perhaps?" _R.O.B. guessed, trying to finish for Lucas.

Lucas didn't say anything. Instead, he only nodded.

_"Ah, you must mean the incident that you, I, and all the others had survived. Yes, it was a great burden for all of us...with the exception of 'them.'" _R.O.B spitefully shifted his eyes to the side while he was speaking the last sentence. Obviously he was referring to Ganondorf, Wario, and Bowser. He never had much sympathy for the misfortunes of those three because he was rather spiteful of the treachery that they gladly participated in. But Ganondorf was the one that he was the most spiteful towards.

Lucas reluctantly replied, "N-no…I mean, there was that, but no… I mean something that happened… Something that...happened before any of that..."

"_Can I ask what it is that happened?"_

Lucas remained silent again. He turned his back to R.O.B, sat down in the grass, and stared at the ground.

"…Have you ever had a mom…or a dad…or siblings?"

"_Parents?" _R.O.B. thought for a moment, "_Well…a human created me. I suppose he could be considered my 'father.' As far as siblings, the robots that once lived with me on the Isle of Ancients could be considered my 'siblings,' if that is what you mean."_

"...I had a mom, a dad, and a brother…and a dog. We were friends with this small family of Dragos…"

"'_Dragos?'"_

"They're like dinosaurs… My brother, Claus, and I used to always play with the Dragos' baby. But...one day...the dad Drago killed my mom…my brother and I were there when it happened… Its fang went through her heart…"

"…_How did your father and brother react to this?"_

"My dad…got really upset... He attacked the person who told him about it, and then he hurt another person…so he was thrown in jail…until I broke him out… Then my brother went after the Drago to get revenge for what he did...but he was killed by it too… My dad eventually fought the Drago when he found him…but…we never found Claus…"

"_...My goodness… So much unnecessary death..."_

Lucas's voice was sounding cracked, "Then after that…me and some friends learned about this organization...that was trying to take over the world, by pulling these seven needles to awaken this dragon… They were also taking control of my society… Remember what I said about the Drago that killed my mom? They experimented on it...they made it more violent... That's why it attacked her..."

Lucas stopped for a moment. By now, he was beginning to break down, as indicated by his head lowering and his hands clutching the grass. He was also sniffling as he spoke. R.O.B. rolled just slightly closer to him.

"B-before we got to the last needle…my dad told me that my brother was brought back to life by the organization…and that they manipulated him into helping them take over the world… I had to fight him for the last needle. But...I couldn't do it...especially after what the Drago did to him... But, eventually C-Claus did regain his mind...then he...went to be with our mom… Before he did...he hugged me and thanked me for...being at his end... I-I...I...wanted...to cry...s-s-so much...after that…but I couldn't…"

Rivers of tears ran down Lucas's cheeks, as he sat there, quietly wailing. Lucas moved his arms to his lap and buried his face in his arms, trying to hide his face from R.O.B.

R.O.B. stood still for a moment, then rolled towards the weeping boy, and looked down at him with sympathetic eyes.

"_So, you were mourning the deaths of your loved ones…" _R.O.B. laid the flat part of his hand on Lucas's back. He waited for Lucas's wailing to quiet down to sniffles before he spoke again,_ "It is surprising what these seemingly innocuous brutes and psychopaths have the power to do to our hearts... I can understand how your experiences can be traumatizing… I went through a similar experience..."_

Lucas calmed down a little and rubbed his eyes, "Y-you had f-friends…or family…that died…too…?"

R.O.B. lowered his head a little.

"…W-what happened...to them?" the boy asked.

R.O.B. shook his head, "_No…it is too painful to reflect back on…"_

Lucas slowly stood up, still sniffling a little, "N-no, it's alright… You may not feel as bad if you tell me, because...I w-wasn't feeling as bad about my mother and brother when I was telling you about them, because…you understood…"

R.O.B. took a moment of silence,_ "…Before I, or any of us existed, there lived several elders who were the original watchers of this world. They looked over this world and made sure that life here was peaceful and that any problems were solved immediately. One day, one of those elders, Professor Hector, began to worry about what may happen to this world once they had physically left. So, he created me, the Robotic Operating Buddy, as well as many other robots, to replace the elders as the guardians of this world. After the passing of the original elders, we were left to take up this responsibility. From what we observed, all had been well. But then...Tabuu came."_

"...T-Tabuu?" Lucas asked out of uncertainty.

"_Do you recall the enemy that we had recently defeated? The demon wrapped in blue?"_

"Y-yes..."

_"That was the one we called Tabuu."_

R.O.B. rolled a little further from Lucas towards the pond and stared at the moon.

"_Tabuu wanted to cut this world apart so he could strengthen his power and to create his own world. In other words, he was an abomination that hungered for power. However, he couldn't leave Subspace, the shadowy hell that we traveled in, so he had to create an army that could do the work for him. The first thing he did was took control of Master Hand. Master Hand is the god of our world. It is widely believed that he was the one who create this world. Knowing this, Tabuu used Master Hand to recruit Bowser, Wario, and Ganondorf to his army. He also observed my home, the Isle of Ancients, and noticed how advanced our technology was. So, he demanded that I, and my brethren, were to join his army, develop those horrific devices, the Subspace bomb and the Dark Cannon, for the army's use, and that someone would be an escort for those…forsaken bombs."_

Lucas walked to R.O.B. "So...you all just...joined him...out of free will? But…why? I thought you wanted to protect us…"

_"I had no choice. I feared that if I had refused, my brethren…and I…would have all been destroyed. Tabuu's Off Waves, the red shock waves that trophified us all almost as soon as we encountered him in Subspace, could've easily dispatched us. So I accepted his demand. But when I did, I went under the guise of 'The Ancient Minister.' It was to hide my shame of joining Tabuu's army...of betraying my own world..."_

Lucas held his hand up in a way as if he wanted to say something to the robot, but could not mentally get it out.

"_Tabuu commanded us to use the Subspace bombs to cut apart this world. But it came at a tremendous cost for me. Two robots were required to detonate a bomb. Once they have done so, they were destroyed. Eventually, I had decided that the treachery had to be stopped; I broke myself from the Subspace Army, joined the heroes that had penetrated the bomb factory, and tried to command my brethren to stop from destroying the isle. But...Ganondorf, the primary commander of the Subspace Army, laughed at my effort...he had full control of them, and commanded them to detonate all of the bombs in the factory. The Isle of Ancients was completely destroyed."_

"But...Tabuu's gone now...and everything's back to normal… Your home should've came back too..."

"_...Come with me._" R.O.B. said, with an expression of sadness in his eyes.

Obeying, Lucas followed R.O.B. to a different part of the island. In the night sky was a giant dark blue X. Lucas stared at it in slight awe while R.O.B. stared at it in grief.

"What...is that...?" Lucas asked.

_"That used to be where the Isle of Ancients existed. The magnitude of all the bombs that detonated in the factory on the isle was so strong, that the isle...my home...can never revert back to normal."_

"So...not only did you lose your family...but your home never came back either?"

R.O.B. did not respond. He only hung his head while his eyes were shut. Lucas walked to the front of R.O.B. and spoke to him with a juvenile serenity.

"…L-Look...your island may be gone...but you still have the rest of this world to call your home...since it was your job to look over it... Also...a-about me being sad about my mom and brother...I miss them, but I still have many other people who I care about… Those people, who helped us save the world…if you love them the same way you loved your brethren, they could be considered your family too… Y-You don't have to think of them as that exactly, but...they still love you... I…I understand how you can feel about losing your childhood home…but…sometimes…home isn't always just a place were you were born and always lived in… It can also be a place where other people who live there care about you… What I'm trying to say is...I still have people who care about me…and…and…" He gently placed his hands on R.O.B.'s shoulders, "You do too..."

R.O.B. opened his eyes a little without moving his head. For a while, Lucas stared into the robot's eyes. It was hard for him to deduce if R.O.B. was staring at Lucas, or at the ground.

The boy wrapped his arms around the robot and rested his head on his torso.

R.O.B.'s mood changed from grief to confusion. …_Why is he embracing me like this? _he thought to himself.

"It's a hug... My mom used to always hug me whenever I was sad... It's the same thing my brother gave me before he passed on..."

_"…Odd…I had never knew this was a way of sympathy... A simple embrace? …It feels...pleasantly warm…"_

"…That's good…that's what hugs are supposed to do…they make you feel better when you're sad…" After a few seconds, Lucas retracted his small arms, but placed his hands on the robot's shoulders again, "Do you feel better now, Mr. Robot?"

"…_Ever so slightly…"_

"Why only slightly?"

"_It's just…ever since those recent events, I had lost faith in myself… I felt that I had failed to protect all the inhabitants of this world…and the world itself…that I had failed to fulfill what my master had created me for…that I betrayed everyone…"_

"But…you still helped us get rid of Tabuu. You helped us restore our world back to normal. Aren't those ways of showing that you did what you were supposed to do? Besides, we've all forgiven you for all that you did against the world... I'm pretty sure that the elders...especially your dad...have too…"

R.O.B. remained silent for a moment until he finally replied,_ "...Perhaps…you are right... I may have failed at first, but...I was able to redeem myself. I gave a hand in defeating that monster… I only joined the Subspace Army because I worried about the safety of my fallen brethren… Maybe that showed that I still had good in me… I...can't believe it took me so long to realize this… Perhaps I have been…much too hard on myself…"_

Lucas attempted a smile. It was a little weak, but enough to show that he was trying. "See? You're not a bad per-…robot after all..."

"_...I...thank you, Lucas, for making me realize how foolish I was about myself."_

R.O.B. wrapped his arms around Lucas. His grip was tight, but not enough to be painful. Lucas was a little surprised by the grip at first, but then he hugged back. They stood in each other's arms for a long while.

Eventually, Lucas spoke, "...It's getting a little late. I think we should go back home now, Mr. Robot."

"_Right." _R.O.B. responded. Lucas was released from the robot's grasp, and he left to return to the house.

As R.O.B. followed the young, blonde-haired boy, he turned around to look at the X in the sky one last time that night before returning to the house with Lucas.


End file.
